Seeking Balance?
From the latest road ahead:
"There will always be some pretty dominant characters, but our hope is that a variety of competitive teams filter into the community over time, and that the primary “meta” of the game becomes a little bit more balanced in the future. While it may not be a true rock-paper-scissors meta, and while it will take some time to execute, this is the targeted end state - this end state is a reflection on some of the competitive gameplay changes we’ve slowly been making as well."
This is a good message, and would be good for the game--but it's clearly not being bought into.
Case in point: Nerfing the zzEP Malak counter. This is just the latest in a long line of examples of nerfing elements of the game that actually bring balance in favor of protecting the New Big Thing.
Not a unique opinion, I'm sure, and almost certainly not the first post, but I did want to add one more voice to the issue.
Seeking balance is good--great, in fact; it makes the game far more interesting and will command eyeballs for longer.
Claiming to seek balance while undermining it actively is ultimately self-defeating. This latest nerf, for example, limits the design space and makes new Sith teams handicapped from before conception--so not only is balance undermined, but development and theory crafters are also handicapped from the get-go, and all to make sure that the new Darth Revan/Malak combo is impregnable except in mirror situations (to all appearances, at any rate)?
What is wrong with competitive advantage within a broadly balanced realm? Why the need to create periodic insurmountable advantages?
Apart from the obvious reason, I mean.
"There will always be some pretty dominant characters, but our hope is that a variety of competitive teams filter into the community over time, and that the primary “meta” of the game becomes a little bit more balanced in the future. While it may not be a true rock-paper-scissors meta, and while it will take some time to execute, this is the targeted end state - this end state is a reflection on some of the competitive gameplay changes we’ve slowly been making as well."
This is a good message, and would be good for the game--but it's clearly not being bought into.
Case in point: Nerfing the zzEP Malak counter. This is just the latest in a long line of examples of nerfing elements of the game that actually bring balance in favor of protecting the New Big Thing.
Not a unique opinion, I'm sure, and almost certainly not the first post, but I did want to add one more voice to the issue.
Seeking balance is good--great, in fact; it makes the game far more interesting and will command eyeballs for longer.
Claiming to seek balance while undermining it actively is ultimately self-defeating. This latest nerf, for example, limits the design space and makes new Sith teams handicapped from before conception--so not only is balance undermined, but development and theory crafters are also handicapped from the get-go, and all to make sure that the new Darth Revan/Malak combo is impregnable except in mirror situations (to all appearances, at any rate)?
What is wrong with competitive advantage within a broadly balanced realm? Why the need to create periodic insurmountable advantages?
Apart from the obvious reason, I mean.
